Heartless
by great.and.small
Summary: The city of Midgar is a festering pile of waste, and Reno is just another parasite contributing to the disease until a kid is thrown in the mix and changes things. As the world falls apart and is rebuilt around him, there's always the ever present question: is Reno human, or is he really just heartless? Rating is for terrible, terrible language and violence.
1. Prologue

_Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy or anything created by SqureEnix, this is just for fun._

_Warnings: Violence, **really** bad language, and Reno._

_A/N: So if you've read anything else I've written and posted on this site, this story is **completely **separate and **very **different. I wanted to try to write something that had no romance and a little bit of a darker twist. _

_Things start taking place during the Before Crisis story line and continue through to Advent Children. I didn't adhere strictly to everything in BC, mostly because I've never played the game, but I did my best with Wikipedia etc. Also, I ignored the stories from On the Way to a Smile, mostly because I found that they didn't really fit in with the story I wanted to write and this is fanfiction, so I'm allowed to do that._

_Also, I didn't list this as a crossover, because it really isn't. This story is very Reno-centric and focused on the world of FFVII. Axel is present as Reno's brother, but I mostly used him as a plot device to develop Reno's character._

_Anyway, I hope you like it!_

* * *

The pubs in Midgar were no longer smoky, providing a comfortable haze and adding a certain _atmosphere_. Some bullshit about health and fire hazards and cancer or _something. _

That didn't stop a certain patron from lighting up at the bar, ashing his cigarette into the bowl of peanuts that probably contained more STDs than the whores hanging around outside. The music was loud enough that the surrounding conversations were dulled, but not too loud to make him want to kill something, which was good. One more off duty murder and Tseng might _actually_ punish him.

But just because nobody was going to _die_ tonight didn't mean that the fucking schedule was going to be changed. There was an order to things, there was a certain way that everything was done and he wasn't OCD, he didn't have some _fucking anxiety disorder_, this was just the way the godsdamned planet worked, and _fuck _whoever thought otherwise.

It always started out the same, and ended with the same punch line.

Two Turks walk into a bar.

Ha, fucking, _ha_.

Rude always came with him for the beginning of the night, had a couple beers, nodded along, actually listened to his rants (gods, he loved his partner). Then Rude would get bored or tired or find something soft that he wanted to take home and fuck through the wall. So Baldy would leave, and the other Turk would switch from beer to whiskey and start scoping out targets.

Who was he going to fuck, and which unfortunate bastard was he going to _fight?_

Then came the cigarettes, between two and three, because this was the amount of time it took to catch the eye of something he found aesthetically pleasing, and wished to introduce to the alley out back and all the _fun_ activities they could participate in there, and also scout out the sucker that was getting his ass kicked into the next century.

That night it took two and a half cigarettes, and he was starting to get concerned he might need a fourth, when an overweight, sweaty, waste-of-skin, moron knocked over his drink.

_Bingo._

* * *

Forty-five minutes later, dumb-ass was crumpled out front. Maybe someone would call an ambulance, but in this city probably not.

The Turk adjusted his pants back on his hips, the sweet-but not so sweet-blonde-pretty-little-thing was leaning against the brick building, her skirt askew and her panties caught around her ankle.

"Thanks, yo. I won't be calling." The Turk completed his ritual lighting his last cigarette for the night and strolling away, vaguely in the direction of his apartment.

Stars were lost in the light pollution, the faint sound of trains and cars and reactors echoing through the Midgar night. Under the greenish light of the street lamps, bright red hair glowed eerily in the dark, and the figure stopped to take one last drag before tossing the stub to the ground. The light cast shadows across the angular face, everything sharp and dangerous, the wrinkled and messy blue suit hanging off of the deceptively gangly frame.

Reno tossed his head back, loving the chaos and the reek of mako that surrounded him.

_In this poisonous city, he was just another parasite, contributing to the disease. _


	2. Chapter 1

Mondays were fucking _cursed._

Turks didn't have weekends off, they didn't have work hours. They were always on duty, and they were working when there was a mission, or a report, or guard duty, or when Tseng was feeling like an ass. So even though Mondays were not awful in the sense as they were for the rest of the world, as in they were the start of the week, the day was undoubtedly cursed.

Reno had determined that all terrible things happened on Mondays.

There was gunfire, which wasn't bad, actually a firefight was a _fantastic_ way to start off the morning. Rude was crouched beside him, popping up over the flipped car they were using for cover to squeeze off a couple rounds at the fuckers shooting at them. This hadn't been part of the original mission. They were just supposed to be going down to the sewers to take are of some monster cleanup, but had been ambushed by AVALANCHE lackeys on the way.

It was just a few more people to add to the body count.

Reno was surveying the layout, determining if he could sneak over into close range, he was a shit shot. He wanted to start beating these assholes into the pavement with his EMR, when his PHS started buzzing.

"Godsdammit! Who the hell-What do you want?" Reno clipped out, figuring it was probably Tseng or Veld calling to bitch that they weren't back from monster duty, firing off a shot over the car without looking just for good measure.

"I-I'm so sorry. I'm calling for, um, for a Mr. Reno of the Turks?" A timid female voice flowed into his hear and Reno growled.

Psychotic one-night stand then.

"What do ya want, toots?" Reno rolled his eyes exaggeratedly for the benefit of his partner when Rude looked at him and raised an eyebrow. The redhead motioned for him to keep shooting.

"My name is Namine, and I-I'm calling from social services, is this a good time Mr. Reno?" He couldn't place the name, but then again he didn't really know the name of most of the people he slept with.

"Sure, sugar tits. I'm all ears, yo." Rude let out a snort and Reno winked at him, rolling to the side to shoot one of the idiots that had poked too far out from their shelter across the street.

"Oh, well, all right. Um, I'm calling about-about you're father..."

"My old man kick the bucket?"

"Yes, I'm so sorry for your loss..."

"Great news, cupcake! I'll have a beer tonight in celebration." Rude grinned, tossing a grenade over to the enemy, panicked shrieks a new music to add to the cacophony.

"O-Oh, well, erm, all right. Well, I also need to inform you that there was a minor at your father's location..."

"Shiva's godsdamned tits, he was a pedophile?" _Both _of Rude's eyebrows raised at that. Reno felt bile rise in his throat. He put up with a lot of crap, but that was one thing that could disgust even _him._

"No, no. The boy was his son."

"Excuse me?" The two Turks were leisurely walking across the street, making sure all the AVALANCHE fuckers were good and dead.

"Your father had a son, we've been, um, unable to locate his mother and y-you're his next closest living relative."

"Well, fuck, baby, you really know how to ruin my day. How old is this kid?" Reno heard breathing and turned on his heel, looking down into terrified eyes that he had seen all too many times.

"He's four. He's currently h-here at my office downtown, we're going to, um, have to put him into foster care in a couple hours if no one will take him."

Reno unloaded the rest of his magazine into the wheezing body beneath him, Namine's shocked gasp echoing in his ears.

"Wh-what was...?"

"I'm a Turk, sweet cheeks." Reno holstered his gun and stuck a cigarette between his teeth. "I'll be there in an hour, yo."

* * *

Rude had graciously agreed to kill off the nest of monsters in the Sector Eight sewers alone, and Reno had boarded the train to downtown with the rest of the scum of the planet.

He smoked on the train, mostly because it was illegal and there wasn't a damned thing anyone could do about it, and he only broke one wrist on the way there. Some homeless guy tried to snag his wallet.

Bad decision.

He had stood outside the address Namine had nervously stuttered to him, suddenly wondering _why in the fuck_ he was there. He didn't give a shit about this kid, hell he barely gave a shit about _himself_. What did he care if the brat ended up in foster care? There were worst things. Given, in Midgar most of the orphaned kids eventually ended up starving, or abused, or homeless, or dead.

But that was life. You live, you suffer, you die.

For some people that middle part was a bit shorter.

Figuring that since he had already ridden the train all the way the fuck there, he might as well step inside and take a look at the spawn his father had created.

And that, was Reno's Big Fucking Mistake.

The rooms were grungy and overcrowded and Namine's "office" was little more than a closet with a rickety desk and a couple chairs, with no windows and no extra space to be able to breathe properly. He hadn't expected the kid to have such bright red hair, and big green eyes, with bruises up and down his arms and cigarette burns coloring his cheeks. He didn't expect the kid to be clutching that dirty stuffed rabbit in his tiny hands or the obvious emaciation under those ratty clothes.

Most of all though, he didn't expect the firm set of that little jaw, the hard glint behind those too large eyes, and the obvious fact that the kid didn't look like he had cried _at all._

Reno liked him at first sight.

The Turk turned to the timid little blonde waif, she was pretty, but terribly forgettable, like maybe she wasn't even really there. "What's his name, yo?"

"His name is Axel." Namine wrung her hands nervously. Reno tended to do that to people, make them nervous. "He hasn't, he hasn't spoken since we picked him up."

"Hmph." Reno snorted, lighting _another_ cigarette, for some reason the situation was getting on his nerves as well. Probably the small space. Maybe Namine's fidgeting. Maybe the way the kid was staring at him.

He knelt down so that he was eye level with his miniature clone, the kid seriously looked just like him, and took a contemplative drag. Axel eyed his cigarette, leaning back a little, not afraid, more _alert_, like he was getting ready to spring away if Reno started doing anything threatening.

He liked the kid even more.

"Name's Reno, yo." He considered the kid for a minute, weighing his options, finishing his cigarette, wondering if he had lost his mind. Then he chuckled to himself as he stubbed out the burning cancer-stick into Namine's carpet. His mind was gone a _long_ time ago. "I'll make you a deal, kid. You can stay at my place, and I'll feed you and whatever. I promise I won't beat you or burn you or do anything fucking nasty. You just gotta promise to wipe your own ass, stay outta my hair, and go to school."

Sharp blue eyes locked with hard green ones and Reno extended a hand. "We got a deal, kid?" Axel stared at him for a couple moments, gaze shifting between Reno's hand and his face. "I don't got all day, yo."

Axel grinned, revealing a few missing front teeth, his little hand getting swallowed by Reno's. "Okay."

* * *

They were walking into the lobby of the ShinRa building, some of the employees that recognized him openly staring. Axel had tried to hold his hand on the train, but after realizing that wasn't going to fly settled for clutching the hem of his blazer.

That was acceptable.

The kid was still clutching the rabbit in one hand, it's feet barely grazing the ground. Reno couldn't tell if he was holding onto the thing for comfort, or habit, or because it was his only possession.

He didn't really care either way.

"The fuck are you looking at, yo?" Reno glared at a board member that stared at them a little bit too long on the elevator. (Reeve Tutu or some shit?) The man jumped slightly and quickly turned away.

When they strode out onto the Turk floor, everything went very suddenly _quiet. _They stared. Cissnei dropped her coffee. Rod nearly fell off his chair. Reno ignored the shocked silence, nodding briefly at Rude, the only person in the room still typing a report, and walking purposefully toward the double doors that led to Veld's office.

He stormed in without knocking, as was his usual manner, interrupting Tseng mid-sentence. Veld was sitting behind his large oak desk, Tseng perched on one of the two leather seats situated in front. Behind them a giant window gave a view of the entire city. Reactors, dirt, pollution, and all.

His two superiors turned to him, the wutaian field manager's mouth already starting to contort into a reprimand, when both their eyes fell on the little redheaded toddler fiercely holding onto Reno's sleeve.

"So..." Reno allowed his most lazy slum drawl to creep into his speech, knowing it drove both of them nuts. "I was gonna ask for the afternoon off, yo."

"Gods above, you've _reproduced?"_ Tseng's lip curled slightly in mock distaste, and Veld smirked.

"Nah." Reno flopped into the open chair, Axel still holding onto him. "Old man, kicked it. This is my half-brother."

He felt Axel's grip tighten.

"You have a mission for this afternoon." Veld was looking down at Axel, and the kid was staring right back.

Reno wasn't sure, but he kind of felt a little _proud._

"C'mon, man. Give me a few hours to get him settled, yo." Reno knew his superiors were just fucking with him, he'd get the time. "I'll take somebody's night watch."

Tseng and Veld communicated silently for a moment. "You have until tomorrow morning." The director nodded at him.

"Thanks, boss-man." He stood, picking the kid up and holding him to his side and started making his way for the door, knowing from experience that lingering after a dismissal was a _bad_ idea.

* * *

They stood in the middle of his living room in the apartment, and the full weight of Reno's situation seemed to sink in. He looked around at the scattered weapons, empty beer bottles and takeout boxes, the piles of dirty clothing, and the lack of a second bedroom.

"Stay here, kid." He set Axel down on the couch and first put away the weapons, or at least moved them up high enough so that the brat wouldn't be able to reach them, and picked up a few particularly old pizza boxes and beer bottles and tossed them out the window.

Good enough.

Axel was sitting quietly on the sofa, watching him expectantly with those big green eyes.

"What?" Reno started to light a cigarette, realizing that he knew _jack all _about kids.

"You said I wouldn't be hungry." Axel continued to stare, still holding onto that fucking rabbit.

"Right, I did say that, yo." Reno took a drag and plopped himself down next to the kid. "What do you eat?"

"Food."

"What kind of food?"

Axel's little nose scrunched up at that, like he didn't understand the question. "I eat cereal...and beans...sometimes bread."

Reno let out a long breath, letting a stream of smoke rings flow across the apartment. He wondered if those were the only foods the kid had ever eaten. He knew he didn't have any of those things in his kitchen and he wasn't going out to buy any.

At a loss for what to do, he took the kid to his usual place to grab a quick bite.

He took him to a bar.

* * *

After a few weeks Reno knew that Axel liked fried food, milk, and _any_ kind of candy. The kid was smart, already learning to read, and best of all, the kid was quiet.

Reno didn't hit or scream at him and Axel wiped his own ass and stayed out of the way. He was too young to start school, so Reno had suffered through the most painful, awkward conversation with the old lady down the hall who was hired for a minimal fee to watch the brat anytime he was at work. While there Axel mostly read or colored or did whatever the fuck little kids did all day, and he seemed decently happy.

The Turk still followed his routines, the only changes being that he walked Axel down the hall to Mrs. Hikaru's every morning and sometimes when he sat around watching porn while downing a healthy amount of beer, Axel sat with him, coloring in favor of watching the screen, but happy to be in Reno's presence. Sometimes he took the kid out, him and Rude had been teaching him how to play poker, and sometimes he'd take him to the office when he knew he was going to be sitting around writing reports all day, the boss didn't care, and Axel would read some stupid fucking rhyming book or play quietly with his damned stuffed rabbit.

Nothing had really changed, the kid was cute, and didn't fuck with his schedules, so he stayed.

There was one problem that was almost a deal breaker.

Reno was a messy person, but he was not a dirty person. There's a _fucking_ difference.

He was messy, because his apartment was a stye and his clothes were a disaster, but his personal hygiene was _godsdamned _impeccable, and sometimes he showered multiple times a day, because his job could be _gross_, and fuck all but he liked to be clean.

The problem was, the kid would. not. bathe.

Most kids didn't like baths, Reno knew this, hell, when he was a little kid _he_ probably didn't like baths. But Axel's aversion to baths was almost pathological.

He'd kick and scream and run and claw. He'd turn into a little redheaded beast and the first time this transformation had taken place Reno had almost said _fuck it_ and shot the kid.

Reno had wrestled the little devil into the bathroom and locked the door, bath already drawn, and Axel continued to scream bloody murder as he stripped him of all clothes but his underwear, because for some reason it seemed _wrong _to take those off. Then as he tried to force him into the bath and prove to the kid that he wouldn't _fucking melt_, and Axel started doing the most horrifying thing Reno had ever experienced from him.

The little shit started to cry.

And not just cry, fucking _sob_, big ugly gulping breaths and snot and tears, his whole little body shaking with fear as he crawled away to huddle in the corner between the wall and the toilet tank.

Reno wondered to himself what in the hell somebody had done to the poor kid, before he stopped himself short. He didn't fucking _care._ That demon was disgusting and if it was staying in the apartment it was going to clean up, or Reno would drop it on the stoop of social services without a second thought.

He grabbed the kid's skinny little arm and dragged him towards the tub, Axel's body was now limp with exhaustion from crying so much, but still managed to squirm and moan in protest.

"Nooo...p-please, nooo..."

"Shut up, kid."

Reno had soaked a threadbare cloth in the tub and then brought it out and started scrubbing Axel clean on the tiled floor of the bathroom. Axel's choking sobs slowed down into hiccups, and he only put up a fuss when Reno made him lean his head back to wash his hair, but after a stern look from the Turk and a promise he'd take him back to Namine, Axel relented.

By the end of it, Reno was soaked, the floor was sopping wet, but Axel was cleaner than he'd ever seen him. He toweled the kid dry and kicked him out of the bathroom, with instructions to get dressed.

Later that night Reno was watching the usual, he didn't masturbated to porn he just liked watching it, never pausing to wonder why.

Axel was curled up under his blanket in his spot where he always slept on the couch, Reno's hand unconsciously petting his hair or rubbing his back when the kid tossed in his sleep from a nightmare.

* * *

Rude was shifting around the garbage that littered the floor of the shack with his foot, searching for clues. Reno examined the molding walls, blowing cigarette smoke at the faces in the faded photographs. They were in some dump in the slums. Their target had caught wind of their arrival and obviously fled. They'd find him eventually.

Nobody got away from the Turks.

Now, however, they were going to have the unfortunate chore of offing the guy's family as well, since he'd gotten them involved. Fucking coward, if he'd taken it like a man then Reno wouldn't have to eventually put a bullet in the back of the skull of the little girl that smiled, blissfully ignorant, in the photographs.

"Something's here." Rude held up what appeared to be a receipt, and Reno grinned manically.

The idiot was headed for Kalm. This would be too easy.

As they started making their way out of the dilapidated house, Reno noticed a little stuffed tiger sitting on the windowsill. He ground his cigarette into the hardwood and snatched the toy, putting it in his pocket.

Axel liked animals.

Besides, the little girl wasn't going to miss it.


	3. Chapter 2

Reno stormed into the apartment, _pissed._ Those fucking mutant AVALANCHE wannabe SOLDIERS were really starting to get on his nerves. The shit going down at Shinra was starting to get weird and sketchy. First there was the crap with all the mutants from the godsdamned terrorists, then the fucking president accuses Veld of selling insider information and places Heidegger in charge.

Of all people. Fucking _Heidegger._

Reno didn't know how that one was going to work out. He didn't know where any of it was going. Him and Rude had had some shaky conversations over half empty bottles of scotch about what would happen if the Turks fell apart, cause _fuck_. Neither of them were really ready to function with the rest of normal civilization.

His hand twitched towards the EMR hanging from his belt when he heard the door open and close behind him before he recognized the sound of tiny feet pattering across the carpet.

"Reno!" Axel hugged him around the legs and looked up at him smiling. That was one of the things that was so ridiculous. The kid was always so happy to see him. Like Reno's presence made his whole damned life better.

"Hey, kid." Reno absently ruffled Axel's long red hair that stood up in every direction.

Maybe Reno should take him to get a haircut, or at least brush the rat's nest occasionally.

Then he remembered that he didn't fucking _give a shit._

* * *

A stray bullet flew by Reno's ear, missing him by inches. Rude pulled him down roughly and returned fire leaning around the crates they were hiding behind.

Another fucking firefight.

They were in Junon, on Heidegger's orders, except he wasn't being too specific or sharing all the information he knew and the Turks were working with this half-assed intel that was barely enough to keep them alive. Tseng was positioned nearby with some of the newer recruits also shooting at the AVALANCHE bastards that were encroaching on them. That moron Heidegger was sitting on his ass, waiting for the opportunity to send in the military, like the Turks were godsdamned grunts that could be replaced.

Reno was sick of sitting and getting shot at, he was sick and _fucking _tired of it. He looked over to Rude catching the bald man's attention. "Cover me big guy."

Before Rude could offer a response, Reno clicked on his EMR and launched himself over the pile of crates and into the enemy, dodging bullets and knocking motherfuckers _out. _He faintly registered Tseng cursing in surprise and the slight sting of the blows the SOLDIER wannabes were landing on him, that he knew would hurt like _hell_ once the adrenaline wore off, but right then he didn't care. Reno wanted to _do _something, he wanted to be in control, or maybe out of control.

They were fighting for their lives, and it was starting to look like a losing battle. Reno started wondering if that day was the day he died, because his strikes were becoming less powerful, his reflexes slower, the pain seeping in...

When suddenly more Turks and troops busted into the airport and he realized for the first time that Tseng and Rude and the rookies had formed an organized line. Reno grinned, wicked and dangerous and sharp.

Today wasn't his turn.

* * *

Months had gone by. SOLDIER was all fucked up, the General and all the other first class soldiers were dead, and Zack and some infantry grunt named Cloud had been taken into the Shinra Mansion for "research" by Dr. Crazy himself. Veld had been put back in charge right after the Junon incident, but things still weren't looking good.

AVALANCHE only seemed to be getting more momentum as time went by and they still hadn't discovered their information leak. With the discovery of the Ancient in the Sector 5 slums, the Turks only had more work.

Running after hippy terrorists, picking up the slack for solider, covering up President Shinra's mistakes, keeping an eye on the Ancient, making sure the whole _godsdamned_ Planet didn't fall apart around them.

It felt like trying to hold water in his bare palms, impossible and futile.

Him and Rude were sitting on opposite ends of the couch, sipping at beers, Axel between them just fucking _coloring away_. At least the kid was happy, the kid was always happy. They were watching the news, seeing the coverage of what the media was claiming happened at Nibelheim. The Turks knew better. They'd seen with their own eyes.

Axel held up his finished masterpiece, a mess of purples and blues (he'd lost the other crayons) awaiting Reno's approval.

"Nice, kid." He patted his little head roughly, barely glancing over, but Axel seemed satisfied enough. The kid was easy to please, predictable, and simple.

Shinra's bullshit was changing around his schedule, his routine, his fucking _life_, and Reno was not a fan. But at least Rude was the same, and Axel was the same, and when he got a call from Tseng later that night telling him they needed to fly to Corel, at least the Turks were the same.

* * *

Rufus fucking Shinra.

What a shit.

They'd almost lost one of their own in those mines, and Rufus was the damned informant the whole time.

Power-hungry little bastard.

In the ensuing soap opera that had become the Turks existence, Veld had discovered his _long lost daughter_ and defected from the Turks to pursue Elfe or Felicia or whatever she was calling herself these days. Reno didn't try too hard to keep up, he just kept track of who was on what side, who he was allowed to kill, and what the hell the next mission was.

That night he was on double babysitting duty.

Unfortunately, Mrs. Hikaru was in the hospital with a rather terminal case of cancer, and he had nowhere to throw Axel last minute. So Tseng, had simply growled at him over the phone telling him to "_take your fucking kid with you, just keep an eye on Rufus tonight and sort out your shit tomorrow"._

He loved when his superior talked dirty to him.

_Ha._

Axel was sitting on the floor playing with his new favorite thing, quietly occupying himself.

The kid was perfect.

Rufus, the prissy fucker, was looking at the little redhead like he was the dirt on his shoe.

"How _old_ is this child?" The blonde's button nose scrunched up distastefully.

"He's almost five, yo." Reno was leaning casually back in an office chair, his posture deceptively relaxed, twisting slowly from side to side, his eyes half lidded, like he could fall asleep any minute, but in truth completely alert.

Rufus crossed his arms and continued to stare at the little monster on the floor. "Shouldn't you _not_ let a four-year-old play with matches?"

It was said condescendingly, meant to insult Reno, but he simply smirked in response. "Why not?"

"Well, he could get _burned."_ The young Shinra prince rolled his eyes like _Reno _was the idiot in the room.

Axel had started experimenting with lighting small pieces of his hair on fire, and Reno only laughed at his antics, his brother turning to smile at him, the uneven scars on his face stretching and distorting.

The redheaded Turk grinned wolfishly, the tattoos on his face stretching and distorting too. "Everybody gets burned, _Sir_. He'll just learn early how _not_ to."

* * *

Axel had whined for the first time in his life, and it was worse than the time he'd decided to cry. He wanted to see Mrs. Hikaru. The kid understood death, and he wanted to see her one more time before she died.

Finally giving in, Reno had driven the kid to the hospital to say his goodbyes, and the old hag had looked surprised, but pleased that they'd showed up.

Not that Reno cared.

One useful thing he'd learned from the visit was that his almost dead neighbor had a niece, in Kalm. A niece that watched kids.

Reno had contacted her, and forced himself to remain civil over the phone. The lady, Omelet or some shit, remembered her aunt talking about what an angel Axel was and _of course _she'd help him if he ever needed anything.

Axel had started school, breezed through kindergarden and skipped first grade, because first grade was for dumb-asses. He liked having the kid around, but things were getting dicy for Shinra, so two years after the hag had died, Reno called up Omelet again and organized to get Axel out of Midgar.

The kid didn't understand. They'd ridden out of the city on Reno's motorcycle, and he'd liked that part. He thought they were going on some kind of trip, he didn't realize he wouldn't be going back with Reno.

When they arrived, the Turk pulled up to the Utada residence, a nice country-ish setting, with a huge fenced yard, and a big white house. He was warmly greeted by a doe-eyed brunette (Olette, that was her fucking name) and her chubby husband. A set of twins came running out, maybe a year or two younger than Axel, it was hard to tell, the redhead was _tall _for his age apparently.

Axel had quickly been swept up in a game of tag or hide and seek, or whatever the hell little kids played together. Meanwhile, Reno handed Olette the duffle bag full of Axel's possessions, for some inexplicable reason telling her that his younger brother didn't like onions and he was terrified of water and he really liked coloring books and matches, while handing over a couple thousand gil to handle any expenses the little demon could incur during his stay there.

Olette nodded along, her expression fairly neutral only betraying hints of shock, which Reno didn't understand, cause what the fuck, the kid was breathing and in one piece, he'd done a damned good job.

After he was done instructing the happy couple, Reno was sufficiently _sick_ of the suburbs and ready to get back to Midgar so he could fly to take care of his next mission in Cosmo Canyon.

"Reno! Wait!" He turned to see Axel running over to him from where he'd been playing with the brothers.

Reno shrugged and continued his way to his motorcycle, he really needed to hit the fucking road.

He felt tiny hands that weren't quite as tiny as they had been a few years ago, grabbing incessantly at his blazer. "Don't leave without me!"

Fucking hell.

The kid was crying again.

He thought they were through with this.

"Let go of me, kid. I've got missions, yo, can't hang around." Reno started prying Axel's fingers away.

"No...I-I wanna go home..." The cries were getting more violent and the kid was doing that _snot_ thing again.

"This is home."

"N-no it's not..."

"It fuckin' is now." Reno fed up with Axel's blubbering, picked him up by the collar of his shirt and unceremoniously dropped him on the other side of the small fence. "Stay here. I'm not taking you back with me, yo, get it through your damned thick skull."

Axel's crying had died down to sniffles and he started wiping his nose on his sleeve, making Reno glad he no longer had to do the little monster's laundry. "Will you come back?"

"I don't know kid." Reno looked down at him disgusted when he started crying more, and rapidly moving towards that ugly gulping sobbing that Reno fucking _hated_.

"Titan's friggin' balls, yo. You're so damned annoying." Reno rubbed the heels of his hands into his eyes and was debating just leaving the kid, he didn't _care_ anyway, when an idea struck him. "All right, kid. Hey, calm the fuck down."

Axel continued to blubber into his sleeve, reaching for Reno with his other hand.

"Kid, if you do not shut up, then I'm leaving and _definitely_ not coming back, yo." Reno crossed his arms and steeled himself to wait another ten-seconds, figuring that was enough time to allow an almost-seven-year-old to compose themselves.

Which for Axel, after spending so much time with Reno, was. He blinked puffy green eyes up at his older brother and idol, wanting so much for him to pick him up and take him back home, his _real_ home.

"Here." Reno handed him his goggles, and Axel looked down at them dumbfounded. "I'll be back for those, yo. They're my favorite pair."

Axel blinked again, a hesitant smile spreading across his face. He lunged forward and tried to awkwardly hug Reno through the fence, and eventually the Turk relented, picked up his little brother and allowed Axel to hug him properly for a few moments.

When Reno finally left, he grabbed an identical pair of goggles from an and extra compartment in his motorcycle, and didn't look back. Once he was back at headquarters and in a chopper on his way to Cosmo Canyon, he didn't spare his brother a second thought.

That first night Axel cried himself to sleep, but didn't cry anymore after that, because Reno had always told him to stop that nonsense cause it was fucking obnoxious. He decided after a few days that he liked the other kids there, and the school was more fun because it had a playground, and Olette was a really good cook. Axel was happy again, but he never took off those goggles, and some nights he'd mournfully sit on the fence and look out at the road, sometimes a little blonde best friend at his side, wondering if his brother would keep his promise.

* * *

Reno trudged into his apartment after a night of boozing and fucking and fighting and the usual _bullshit_. He'd just gotten back from Cosmo Canyon that day, and _godsdammit _if that wasn't a miserable mission. It was bad when the things Shinra was doing were starting to send up red flags on _his _moral radar. What the hell did Hojo want with that lion-thing anyway? Why the hell did AVALANCHE's new leader, Fuhito want to summon a fucking monster and destroy the planet?

Why wasn't Shinra putting in everything they had to stop him?

_Since when the fuck did Reno give a rat's ass?_

He unsteadily collapsed on the couch, opening another beer, wishing his partner had stuck around so they could shoot the shit some more. Reno blearily looked down to his pile of mail on the coffee table that was once again littered with daggers and loaded guns.

Bill.

Bill.

Crap.

Bill.

Then an envelope gave him pause. It was small and clearly folded by hand, a messy blockish scrawl scribbled on it. Reno felt himself smirk a little, recognizing the writing and opening the letter.

_Deer Reno,_

_I like it here at Mrs. U's. She makes good pasta. The other kids are OK. I made a friend at skool, his name is Rox. He's kind of small, but he hit this other kid the other day and made his nose bleed. So he's pretty tuff too. I like math class and art class, but music class is dumb. I hate singing._

_I hope you are OK too. I miss you and Uncle Rude._

_Bye,_

_Axel_

Reno read through the short letter a couple times, impressed with his writing, it was alright for a kid. He folded up the letter, sticking it in the inside pocket of his blazer. His attention diverted back to the TV and Reno put on the usual, staring blankly at the flesh colored screen, dozing off on the arm of the couch.

* * *

_Bullshit._

Everything was such fucking _bullshit._

They were hiding in their own _godsdamned _headquarters, because old man Shinra decided that were _traitors. _They'd been caught helping Veld locate the materia that would cure his daughter's illness and stop AVALANCHE from summoning a giant rampaging monster that would destroy the planet, but their orders were to shoot him, _their former fucking leader_, on sight.

It was all a huge steaming pile of _shit. _

Reno, Rude, and Reno's "prodigy" Rod, were crawling through a cramped air duct, moving away from Scarlet's troops and robots. They'd tried fighting at first, but the numbers were overwhelming, and there wasn't any escape. Best to lay low for a while, regroup, make a plan, and find _fucking _Tseng.

Reno smirked slightly when his PHS buzzed, speak of the devil.

"Yo! Boss-man, what's crackin?" Reno whispered into the phone, his voice still sounding loud in the echo-y duct system.

"Reno, who's with you?"

"Rude and Rod, Sir."

"Good, make your way to Tuesti's office. We're getting out of here and helping Veld."

Reno grinned, the fire back in his eyes. "That's what I'm talking about boss, we'll be there stat, yo."

He snapped his phone shut and started leading the way forward again, before a thought gave him pause. "Hey, either you know where the hell Tuesti's office is, yo?"

* * *

Reno was speeding along the highway out of Midgar. He had that one night before they had to take off again. They'd failed a mission, the whole fucking department had failed the mission.

And Reno would never ever be able to explain why, but that death hurt more than any other death he'd ever witnessed, and he hadn't even been the one to cause it. For once he was part of an operation to _save_ a life, and he'd failed.

Zack had stood against hundreds of Shinra troops, and for a heart-stopping minute, it seemed like he might actually escape, he might make it out alive. They'd been too late for aerial rescue, at that point the betrayal would have been too blatant. Reno and Rude watched in silent disgust as the troops methodically, and wrongfully, cut down possibly one of the greatest fighters and most decent human beings either of them had ever been acquainted with.

Zack Fair had believed in dreams and honor. He was nothing like any of the Turks, but they all respected his strength and heart.

Now, Zack Fair was fucking dead, and his buddy was missing, probably dead as well.

It was a shame, really.

Veld had been captured, with plans for execution. The next morning he was departing with Tseng and Rude to locate and free their former leader, and end the madness that Shinra was creating.

So he had this one night, one fucking night to say goodbye, or hello, or sorry-I-never-write-to-you-but-I'm-not-really-sorry-and-I-hope-you-don't-cry-too-much, or _something._

It was past midnight when he'd reached Kalm, and it was raining. He pounded on the Utada's door, not particularly mindful of how rude he was. A flustered Mr. Utada greeted him, baseball bat in hand (that was hilarious).

"Wh-what are..."

"I want to see my brother, yo."

He was guided through the house up to the boy's bedroom and Reno peaked inside. against the far wall was a bunk bed, containing the twins and on the right wall was a small bed with a shock of red hair poking up from under the covers.

Reno walked over, pulling down the blanket to lift his sleepy little brother into his arms. Mr. Utada left them in the living room, and told the Turk to show himself out when he was going to leave.

The first thing he noticed looking down at his brother were the goggles hanging around his neck. They were apparently too big for his head. He held onto Axel tightly. He smelled like soap, and grass, and peanut butter, and felt very small in his arms, even though he was bigger than he had been before. As he sat there holding his brother, he forgot the reason this had seemed so important a couple hours ago. If he died tomorrow, Axel would be fine. There was no reason for this, he should just fucking put the kid back to bed and head out. Tomorrow was going to suck.

"Reno?" Axel was looking up at him blearily then rubbing his eyes and looking up again. Then the little shit reached up and yanked on his ponytail, _hard._

"Watch it, yo."

"Had ta make sure you're real." Axel yawned, and went back to rubbing his eyes.

"Sorry I woke you up." Reno scratched the back of his head, wishing he'd just stayed in Midgar.

"I'm okay." Axel's face suddenly burst into a blinding smile, his skinny little arms wrapping around Reno's neck. "Are you taking me home now?"

It was Reno's turn to blink. "Nah, kid. Not tonight."

"Oh." Axel started with that _damned _pout, but at least the little monster didn't start crying.

"I just...eh, guess I wanted to see you, kid." Reno couldn't believe the crap coming out his mouth. "While I still had the chance, yo."

Axel beamed at him, and then Reno realized why he'd just driven two hours in the middle of the night before a mission to see his brother.

It's not that Axel wouldn't survive without Reno, it was that Axel was glad Reno was alive. There was someone, that wasn't a Turk, who _gave a shit_ if he came out of this mess still breathing.

"Love you Reno." Axel yawned drifting back to sleep.

It was some time before Reno finally put Axel back to bed, shoving the moment deep into the back of memories, just like the letter stuffed in his pocket, and rode to Midgar with new determination.

Whoever got in his way was going to get _hell._

* * *

Everything was _fucked._

Reno watched, detached, as Tseng turned his gun on Veld and Elfe. They'd been captured by Shinra in their attempt to rescue the former AVALANCHE leader after liberating Veld. Tseng turned on them, banking on Shinra's promise that the other Turks would be spared from execution if he ended their lives.

As Tseng took the bodies away, Reno and Rude watched in terrified fascination as their comrades fought the giant Ziconiaide, the rampaging summon that Fuhito wanted to destroy the planet.

What the _hell_ was with people and wanting to destroy the planet?

There was one Turk still standing, they could still come out of this alive. He looked over at his partner and for once Rude's expression mirrored his. They'd both give anything to be down there helping their fellow Turks.

Whoever it was down there, finally landed the last blow, Ziconiaide was defeated. But before Reno could even think of letting out a whoop of triumph, he watched in horror as the Turks, all of them, all the Turks down on the construct disappeared in a flash of light.

He and his partner were silent, until he heard a pained moan and it took him a moment to realize the sound had come from his own throat. Rude's hand grabbed his shoulder, as much for comforting Reno as to keep himself from collapsing.

Gone.

_Everything_ was _fucked._

* * *

The trial was hell.

Scarlet was on a fucking crusade and wanted their heads on pikes. The rest of the board was split.

Fire them.

Imprison them.

Kill them.

Tseng represented the three surviving Turks. He was the most well spoken and knew what the hell he was doing.

In the end, it was Rufus that saved them. That prissy fucker came in handy.

They had to pledge all kinds of _loyalty_ and strike deals with him, but the Turks had deals of their own. They eventually came to an agreement, and even though their numbers were decimated, and most of their fellow Turks were probably dead, there was the silver-fucking-lining. He was alive, Rude was alive, Tseng was alive. They all had their jobs back.

They could start over

That's exactly what Tseng's plan was. When the alert went up right before the Sector One reactor blew, days after the trial was over, Tseng had whipped out his hair tie, long black hair flying loose in the breeze as the wutaian declared that they were a new organization.

It was kind of fucking beautiful.

Over the next months, things would get complicated and crazy, and Reno couldn't possibly comprehend the terrifying path Shinra would take them down in the future, but right at that moment, with Tseng standing looking like the leader he was born to be, and Rude by his side, the redhead was all right with the way things turned out.


	4. Chapter 3

Strife's huge sword knocked him back into the railing, the blunt edge of the blade leaving a long painful bruise.

It was at about this moment that Reno came to the realization that President Shinra had most likely sent him on a suicide mission.

That fat fucking bastard.

Things were starting to look like if he didn't go down with the plate, Cloud and his friends would gladly end his life. He'd had a brief meeting with Strife at the abandoned church in Sector 5, when he'd been sent to retrieve the Ancient, but he had no idea the guy was this _godsdamned _strong.

He now had another reason to regret not managing to save Zack Fair and his friend.

"Stop the timer, Reno!" Cloud charged at him, and he barely managed to duck in time and deflect a well aimed kick from the _very _good looking brunette with his EMR.

How that woman could fight with a set of tits like those was a physical wonder.

"You think I can? Once it's started there's no stopping it, yo!" Reno was starting to feel that familiar fade in adrenaline. He was hurt really fucking bad.

Of all the times when he'd almost died, this could definitely be the one that got him.

Until the blessed sound of helicopter blades gave him enough juice to lurch to his right, avoiding a volley of bullets from Barret, and grabbing onto the rope that pulled him to safety.

He heard Tseng trading some words with Strife's group, before the helicopter jerked up and away from the pillar. That Ancient girl was sitting next to him on the floor, she was crying. Reno was about to start wondering what the hell was wrong with her, but then he heard the explosion, the grinding metal, the screams.

Well, that was going to be _alot_ of fucking bodies.

* * *

Reno blearily blinked his way back into the world of the living. He'd blacked out from the pain before they ever made it back to headquarters after the plate dropped. He was in a hospital, and he hated godsdamned hospitals.

Shifting his joints cautiously, he could tell there had been some surgery performed, something to get all his bones set. He'd probably be stuck there for a few more days as they used some cure materia on him, but it would take more than one go.

"You're awake." Reno was a little surprised to find Rufus Shinra standing by his bedside.

"Uh, yes sir." He tried to blink away some of the pain medication, force himself to feel less fucking loopy.

"You've been out for a couple days, you've missed a few things." The redheaded Turk wondered what the hell that smirk the VP wore could mean.

Wasn't he supposed to be in Junon?

"Sir?"

"My father is dead." Reno raised his eyebrows. "Sephiroth murdered him." His eyebrows hiked up a little more. "Cloud and his friends broke out of our prison cells in the science lab and are apparently on the hunt for Sephiroth." Reno's eyebrows disappeared into his damned hair.

"Uh..." Reno swallowed, suddenly noticing how dry his throat was. To his shock, the VP, no...the president handed him a glass of water. "Thanks, sir. Guess it's been an eventful fuckin' couple days, yo."

"Indeed." Rufus gave one of his odd, cold little smirks. "I'll have Tseng fill you in on the full details later. For now you need to focus on getting better. I need you in the field."

"Sure thing, boss." Reno relaxed, ready to go back to sleep.

"Oh, one more thing." Reno cracked an eye open at him. "You have a guest."

"Who the hell...?"

The door to the hospital room opened and in ran a dash of red, Axel shot right past the president and climbed on the chair at Reno's bedside. Damned kid did this weird thing where he tried to hug the Turk's exposed forearm, and buried his face in his elbow.

"Man, why'd you fuckin' tell him?" Reno wasn't exactly happy that his brother had been upset over this. In his opinion, his brother should only be informed if he was dead.

"He's your family." Rufus cocked an eyebrow at the Turk, the look on his face enough warning for him to stop pushing the issue.

"Uh, right. Thanks, boss." Reno looked down at the wild nest of red hair that was obscuring part of his vision. "Hey, kid. If you're gonna stay, no fuckin' crying."

Axel looked up, giving one sniffle to ban the moisture that been gathering in his eyes and nodding at his brother solemnly.

"Good." Reno laid back into the pillows, hardly registering when Rufus left. He could still feel both of Axel's hands gripping his own, but let it slide.

There was no reason to scare the damned kid.

* * *

"So, Rude, who do you like?" This conversation always proved to be entertaining. His partner was so stiff when it came to talking about this kind of crap, comedy _gold_.

"C'mon, Baldy. It could be anybody."

"...Tifa."

Reno let out a whistle. "That's a tough one, man, but I can see the _assets_ that draw you in."

He let a wolfish grin spread across his face. "I believe you've been down this road before. A few years ago, Christy, Carlie, Charlie..."

"Chelsea."

"Right, her." Reno cocked an eyebrow. "Have a habit of sleeping with the enemy?"

"Shut up, Reno." Despite Rude's words, Reno could see the hint of a smirk on his partner's face.

They had to do whatever they could to stay occupied in that damn forest, waiting around for Strife and friends was _boring._

"They're here! They're really here!" Elena, that idiotic rookie bimbo came prancing down the path.

"Well, calm the fuck down, shut the fuck up, and go get some godsdamned backup, girl." Reno was harsh with her, but it was only for her own good.

Stupid rookie needed to grow a spine.

"R-right." Elena kept running past them, in the _opposite_ direction of Tseng's current location.

A fucking plus for Blondie.

"You again?" Strife's lip curled in distaste and the fight was on.

Unfortunately, Rude refused to hit that Tifa chick, whether out of some misplaced chivalry or a very optimistic outlook at his future possibilities of sleeping with her, and made the fight _that _much more difficult. They were outnumbered and at a disadvantage.

Reno and Rude fought the good fight, trading blows, ducking and swerving around Strife's giant sword, and doing their best to avoid that lion's fucking _teeth_. (Reno had the distinct impression it was still holding a grudge against him for hauling it into the lab, but it wasn't personal, just orders.)

Finally, when it was becoming clear that Elena would not be returning with back-up _or _to lend a _fucking_ hand, they beat a hasty retreat down the path, their injuries overall, not nearly as bad as they could have been.

* * *

It was almost impossible to get a day off at that time. Strife and AVALANCHE kept them on their toes, and Rufus had plenty he wanted done. This reactor checked,_ that_ godsdamned reactor checked. Plus he was having Reno fly all over the Planet, making use of his piloting skills, and some days he felt like more of a fucking taxi than a Turk.

Finally, he had a free afternoon and was flying back to Midgar from Mideel, bringing a fresh stock of medical supplies. He had left early, and had a couple hours to waste, it wouldn't kill anybody if the supplies didn't get there until _just_ on time. Well, maybe it _would_ kill somebody, but Reno honestly didn't give a shit.

He landed outside Kalm, and strode the familiar path to the white house at the end of the street. As he approached he saw Axel running around in circles with a little blonde boy he'd never seen before. The kid had just turned eight years old.

Time fucking flew.

"Reno!" Axel got distracted from his game long enough to notice his brother coming his way.

"Hey, kid." Reno staggered slightly with the force that Axel ran into him, amused to find that the kid was now tall enough to hug him around the waist. "Happy birthday, yo."

Reno received a beaming smile at that, Axel still holding him tightly around the waist, like it was the only thing keeping the Turk there.

"Axel! Time for..." Olette's shouts died off as she saw the two redheads standing there. "Oh, Reno, I didn't realize you were here."

"Yeah. I'm gonna borrow the kid for a bit, yo." Reno smirked down at his brother. "I owe him a birthday present."

They walked off together, Axel holding onto his sleeve in that funny way of his, the kid literally bouncing with every godsdamned step. When they got to the helicopter, Axel looked like he might explode with excitement, and Reno let out a rare laugh at the sight.

The Turk strapped his brother in, settling the goggles over his eyes and adjusting the headset so it would fit the kid. Reno got in the pilot seat and told Axel to be fucking quiet while they were up in the air, and if he needed to puke, do it in the bag. The little redhead had nodded furiously in response.

On the take off, the kid had gripped the seat harshly. The noise and odd sensations were thrilling, but scary for an eight year old, and the longer they were in the air, the more comfortable he got. He started ogling out the window at the scenery, pressing his hands against the glass.

Reno only flew from Kalm to the chocobo farm over by the swamp, long enough to count as a present, short enough that after he walked Axel back to the Utada's he could grab a quick nap before going back to headquarters. He was kinda fucking proud of the kid for not being scared, or loosing his lunch.

At least the kid wasn't an embarrassment.

When he got Axel back to his temporary home, he had been hugged furiously again, and bombarded with questions.

"When will you be back?"

"Can we fly again?"

"Do I get to go home soon?"

"Can I go with you?"

Reno answered them all with the same thing he always said. "I don't fuckin' know kid." He eventually brushed Axel off, ruffling his hair one last time in parting before walking back to the chopper for a well deserved nap.

For Axel, it had been the coolest birthday ever.

* * *

There was a fucking _pound_ echoing in his temples and a godsdamned _buzzing_ in his ears. This was not at _all_ how this day was supposed to go. This was their vacation dammit, Reno should not be running around the Da Chao statues, searching for their dumb-ass rookie and Princess Brat. It was _fucking _ridiculous.

Him and Rude had even needed to team up with Strife and friends, not that Reno had anything personal against them, but _fuck_. It was starting to get confusing what side everyone was on, and that was _not _how Reno liked his world. He liked definite categories of who he could _kill_ and who he wasn't _supposed _to kill.

The sounds of battle reached his ears from above, and he rounded the path to the top of the statue just as Cloud finished off some pet beast of Corneo's. The fat ass motherfucker started spouting off, as he was like to do, and the idiot raised a remote to turn the girls strapped to the statue's face at a dangerous angle. Rude popped around the corner, just in time, to shoot the fucker's hand because his partner was a _badass_.

Reno strode through Strife's group during the confusion, and kicked Corneo over the edge of the cliff, the pathetic man hanging on with his good hand, and blubbering up to _Reno _of all people.

The Turk saw red, _this _piece of shit was the reason his day was messed up and had him doing confusing things like helping out Strife. He ground the heel of his boot into Corneo's hand.

"Know why we teamed up with Blondie to find you, yo?" Reno grinned, sharp, dangerous, and not completely sane. "A) because we'd given up all hope, B) because we knew we would win, or fuckin' C) we were _bored."_

As the former crime boss's screams echoed through the mountains of Wutai, Corneo dropping from the cliff's edge out of sight, Rude's voice rumbled, "Because it's our job."

_Gods _but Reno loved his partner.

Strife took down the girls precariously hanging from the contraption and just before they had the chance to go their separate ways, and Reno's vision was just starting to clear, his PHS went off.

Fucking Scarlet, that _bitch_.

He felt the pounding in his temples threatening to return and snapped his PHS shut, sticking a cigarette between his lips.

"We're supposed to hunt down Strife and friends and bring the fuckers in, yo." Reno lazily lit his smoke, Rude and Elena looking unsure at his sides, and Strife's team bristling to get ready for a fight. "But today...I'm on _fucking _vacation. If you're still here tomorrow, we can dance, yo."

Cloud stared at him a moment, then nodded, his team running off in their own direction.

The other Turks didn't comment on Reno's decision, just followed him back to the bar, where the redhead quickly got back on schedule (fuck or _fight?)_ finding his native honey for the night and his unlucky bastard.

* * *

The boss was looking pale.

Tseng was almost as white as the hospital sheets he was laying on. His breath was ragged, and he seemed to be stuck on death's door, unsure of whether he wanted _in _or _out. _

It had been a few days since he'd been attacked by Sephiroth, and Reno was wishing his boss would wake _the fuck up._ The redhead, was currently, by default, the leader of the Turks. The _godsdamned _leader.

Everything was, once again, _fucked._

Strife had handed over the black materia, because apparently he wasn't even a real damned person, the Ancient was dead, and Tseng was barely clinging to this world. There was nothing to stop Sephiroth from summoning a giant _fucking rock_ to come and destroy the damned planet.

Reno squeezed Tseng's limp hand, like he could somehow _force _his superior to heal. He willed his boss to wake up because, fuck all but Reno did _not _want this job.

* * *

"We'll be taking that huge materia."

Well, son of a _motherfucking _bitch. Guess who.

The Shinra infantry grunts were moving too slow for Reno's liking, and he knew by now that three-to-one he didn't stand a chance against Cloud's team. He'd been trusted with the mission to oversee the safe shipment of the huge materia from the underwater reactor at Junon to Rocket Town via submarine, but these clowns had to jump in and fucking ruin it. Like always.

"I don't have time for this, yo." Reno rolled his eyes and activated a remote, calling over one of the Shinra security robots to distract Strife and friends until he could move the materia out of the reactor. While the fight raged behind him, Reno saw the submarine containing the huge materia leave. He wasn't riding along, because trapping a Turk in a tin can under the sea was a sure fire way to get _somebody _killed.

Reno lit up a cigarette, and started making the climb back up to the city proper, and was only mildly surprised, but supremely pissed off, later when he got the call that Strife had highjacked a submarine and stolen the materia anyway.

_Godsdammit._

* * *

"Urgh, gross." Reno shook his foot, after stepping in another foul puddle of _who-knows-what._ He and Rude had been assigned to search the fallen Gelnika at the bottom of the damned ocean for salvageable weapons and research. He'd been assigned because Tseng was finally awake, which was awesome and everything, but Reno had to question the Turk leader's mental state.

He had just purposefully trapped _two _Turks in a tin can under the sea.

This could only end badly.

"Finding anything, partner?" Rude threw a piece of scrap metal across the hull, clearly just as dissatisfied with their current mission as Reno.

"Nah. Not a fuckin' thing." Reno lit a cigarette, unmindful of the lack of air flow and turned in a quick circle, his open blazer fanning around him. "Let's check back here and call it a day, yo."

The redheaded Turk trudged forward into another room, Baldy close behind. They located a locked door, and usually locked doors contained some interesting shit behind them. So the two hunkered down to unlock the steel door, debating how wise it would be to use explosives underwater, when Reno heard splashing behind him.

"Oh, you have to be fuckin' kidding me. What the hell are you doing here?" Reno stood, his EMR flicking into his hand, Rude standing behind him to face the intruders.

"I could ask you the same thing." Cloud was there with Cid Highwind and Vincent Valentine. Fucking _fuck_ this was going to be a tough fight, but Reno was sick of AVALANCHE, and he was in a tin can under the _godsdamned _sea. He was ready to kill something.

"Can it, Blondie." Reno launched into the offensive, and the fight was on. They were, surprisingly enough, more evenly matched than Reno remembered, making him wonder if the Turks were getting stronger or if Cloud was just going easy on him.

Not thinking his actions through, Reno clicked on the power to his EMR, forgetting about all the _fucking _water. The ensuing shock wave was enough to send them all on their asses, and it was then that Reno noticed his partner was bleeding from a deep gash across his forehead, and _fuck _the Gelnika.

The redhead decided that he didn't _give a shit_, slung Rude over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes and retreated back out to their sub, cause he needed some damned air.

* * *

The four Turks ran through the sewers, some of the streets above too devastated to navigate. That godsdamned weapon had done it's fair share of damage.

They needed a plan to evacuate Midgar. Meteor was going to tear the city a new one.

"Each of us will clear a Sector, Rude take care of Sector Two. Elena, Sector Three. Reno, Sector Four. I'll check around the remains of the Shinra building and we'll meet in Sector Five in two hours. Understood?" Tseng was still not quite up to his full strength, but pushed through the pain. They had a job to do.

Even if prissy Prince Shinra was dead (or so they thought) they had a job to do.

Even if the end of the whole _fucking planet_ was imminent, they _still_ had a job to do.

Cause they were Turks, dammit.

"Oh hell." The four Turks turned at the voice, seeing Cloud and his entire group standing meters away from them, looking unsure of what to do.

"Well...C'mon!" The rookie jumped up on a raised platform in the middle of the tunnel, finally showing some fucking spine. "Let's go!"

Strife shrugged. "Let's not?"

"Fine by me, yo." Reno smirked a look of understanding passing between him and Cloud. "Good luck, man."

Strife nodded, and Tseng's voice reminded them to move out and evacuate the city. The Turks scattered and AVALANCHE charged forward.

* * *

Sector Four had already been mostly empty by the time Reno got there. The citizens of Midgar weren't _completely _stupid. Reno sprinted to Sector Five, Meteor looming overhead, the sky turning an orangish angry red. The wind had been picking up, and as terrifying as the end of the world would be, the chaos was _brilliant_.

Reno's lungs burned from too many cigarettes and too much running. His face was stretched into a manic grin, blazer flapping in the wind, his long ponytail trailing behind him.

He'd never felt so fucking _alive._

At the meeting spot in Sector Five, Reno caught up with Rude and Elena, the blonde giving him concerned looks, probably wondering about his sanity, to which Reno cackled uncontrollably, making the rookie take a few steps back and his partner chuckle along. They were waiting for Tseng, hoping their leader was all right, when the second in command of the Turks spotted a sight he thought he'd _never _fucking see again.

Rod.

And Cissnei.

Legend, and Veld, and Shotgun, and everyone else.

They were _there_, they were _whole_, they were _alive._

Reno's laughter reached a new crescendo, hardly believing his eyes.

"Where the fuck did you all come from? I finally losing my mind or what, yo?"

"C'mon Reno, you know it takes more than a giant Planet-destroying monster to off a Turk." Rod smirked at him.

And just when Reno didn't think the day could get any better, Tseng came into view, with a pile of rumpled white clothes in his arms. A pile of rumpled white clothes that contained Rufus Shinra, who was very much _not _dead.

Son of a bitch, Reno should have given the brat a little more credit.

* * *

The reunited Turks had cleared out Midgar, then made their own escape to Kalm.

The entire town was hunkered down in an underground shelter, the winds outside reaching dangerous levels of _holy-fucking-shit_. The fate of the planet was in the hands of AVALANCHE.

Most people seemed to be feeling pretty fucking hopeless, but for once Reno had some faith.

He'd fought in a lot of battles, he'd stared death in the face plenty of times.

Today didn't feel like a good day to die.

The Turks were gathered in the shelter, sitting in a group, catching up, playing cards, and warily casting looks to the chaos outside.

Rude was sitting on his right, listening to Rod's epic story of adventure and exile. Tseng was to his left, leaning back against the wall of the shelter resting his eyes.

In Reno's lap, there was a little redhead, who wasn't as little as he had been, the goggles that had hung around his neck for so long finally able to rest on the top of his forehead. Axel was perhaps the only child in the town that wasn't crying, but Reno had made it _very _clear when he'd picked the kid up that sort of crap would _not _be tolerated.

"Are we gonna go home after this?"

"Home's gone, kid. Midgar is a pile a shit, yo."

"Oh...can I go with you after this?"

"I don't fuckin' know, kid." Reno scrubbed a hand across his face and after a moment felt Axel groping around inside his pockets, extracting his lighter.

The kid sat flicking the lighter, sufficiently entertained, oblivious of the oblivion that might await them if Strife failed.

"You're kid's weird, Reno." Cissnei and a few of the other Turks had listened to his conversation with his brother and watched Axel playing with the lighter with mild interest.

"Shut up, Cissy." Reno started handing Axel scraps of paper and debris, finding watching the little things burn almost as fucking entertaining as the kid did.

Reno didn't think they were going to die that day, but if they did, it wouldn't have been so bad.


	5. Chapter 4

Healin Lodge was rustic and rural, in the ideal setting of the plains west of Midgar. After the death of Sephiroth had been confirmed, and the planet had eaten the meteor or whatever the hell had happened that day, Rufus Shinra, the Turks, and whatever employees still wanted their jobs had made Healin their new base.

Rufus was acting as an "anonymous benefactor" for the WRO that was headed by Reeve Tuesti. The Turks still had a job to do, and moved into the lodge with the president, spending most of their time training, with the occasional mission to occupy their time.

The kid stayed in Kalm, very much against his will, but there weren't any schools near Healin, and Reno wasn't going to have a moron for a little brother. On the many days when they didn't have missions, and when Axel didn't have to go to school, Reno would fly him out to stay with the Turks.

Reno and Rude had taken to teaching the kid how to fight, because Axel was going to be nine soon, and Reno didn't want some pussy little brother that couldn't throw a punch. The only problem was the kid was so small that the lightest hit from Rude would send the brat flying back on his ass, but Axel certainly knew how to take a hit and would bounce right back up. Reno wasn't sure if the kid was really getting better at fighting or at _dodging_, but either way he figured he was doing pretty damned good.

Elena thought Axel was _adorable_ and would brush his hair and feed him cookies. Axel enjoyed the attention and one day over dinner blurted out that someday he wanted to marry the blonde Turk to which Elena had smiled and told him he was precious and Reno had almost busted a fucking lung from laughing so hard.

They were down in the makeshift shooting range next to the garage of the lodge, Rude kicking his ass as usual at target practice. Axel sat on an upturned crate nearby munching on some snack Elena had given him.

"Fuck _this_, yo. You win Baldy." Rude smirked and Reno twirled his handgun around. His eyes landed on the little monster. "C'mere, kid."

Axel's eyes snapped up, and he jumped down from his perch to trot over to the two Turks. Reno lit up a cigarette and looked him over.

Eight years old was old enough to learn how to handle a gun.

Right?

"Hold this, don't fucking point it at me. All right, spread your feet apart, don't lock your elbows..." He started instructing Axel on proper shooting technique, Rude watching amusedly from the sidelines. After a few rounds, it was pretty clear the kid was a shit shot, but then again Reno had always kind of sucked as well.

Must run in the family.

"What the hell is going?" Reno looked up to see his superior approaching from behind them. Tseng had one eyebrow raised, his hands clasped behind his back.

"Hey boss-man, we're teaching the brat to shoot, yo." Reno was starting to feel slightly concerned that Tseng was going to scold him for being a shitty guardian or some crap, when the wutaian reminded him why he loved being a Turk.

His boss was _awesome_.

"Well, we don't want him to learn to shoot like _you._" Tseng took out his own gun and stepped up next to Axel. "Shift the grip on your weapon so it looks like mine, keep both your eyes open..."

And so the little redheaded demon learned how to handle a gun from the best shot in the Turks, big green eyes the size of saucers, nodding fervently at everything Tseng instructed. Reno smirked and stood back with Rude, wondering why the hell Tseng had never had any kids, and subtly listening to all the hints he gave his student.

* * *

Geostigma was a bitch.

Rufus had every scientist on the job trying to find the cause and the cure for the disease that plagued the planet, and not just because he suffered from the illness as well. The president of Shinra wanted to _atone_ or some sappy bullshit, and Reno couldn't really blame him.

His company had almost destroyed the entire fucking world.

The open sores, fatigue, and black fucking _ooze_ had kept the president in less than top condition, and Reno had started to wonder what the hell the Turks would do if Rufus Shinra ended up six feet under.

He'd started to like the snarky bastard after all these years.

The future of Shinra, hell the future of the whole damned planet, were again up in the air, and Reno could have taken it all in stride and let the cards fall how they would, as he did with every other fucking potentially apocalyptic disaster he'd encountered in his lifetime, except he'd gotten the call he never wanted to hear.

Suddenly finding the cure for geostigma seemed a lot more important.

"How ya feeling, kid?"

Axel itched at the dark stained bandage covering his left forearm. "I'm okay."

* * *

For Axel's tenth birthday, Reno had flown to Kalm to deliver a cake Elena had made for the brat, only to throw it out because the kid couldn't eat it anyway.

He'd spent most of the past few days vomiting.

Reno sat on the couch in the Utada's pristine fucking living room, running his hand through Axel's hair, the kid's head resting in his lap. He took a drag off his cigarette and scanned about looking for a convenient place to snub it.

"Hey...Reno?" The brat's voice was thin and weak. Reno had seen enough people close to death, and enough cases of geostigma over the past few months to know what the only outcome for his little brother would be.

"What?"

"Do you know...what happens when you die?"

Reno glanced down at the kid. He wasn't crying, he hadn't done that for a few years now, which was good because Reno couldn't _stand_ that crap. Putting up with the ooze soaked bandages covering Axel's arms and legs was about his threshold.

"I don't know, kid." It was a stupid question. _Of course_ Reno didn't know what happened when you fucking died. He wasn't _dead_.

"Oh..." Reno felt an uncomfortable twist somewhere deep in his chest when he looked down at the forlorn and defeated look on the kid's face.

"I heard something once, probably bullshit." Reno tossed his cigarette down onto the carpet and ground it in with his heel. "They say you join the lifestream, and go to the Promised Land. Supposed to be nice there...there's...flowers 'n shit."

Axel smiled, but it was a sad sort of smile. "I hope...that it isn't bullshit."

"...Me too, kid."

* * *

"Not a pretty sight, is it?" Elena's voice filtered through his headset and Reno drummed his fingers impatiently on the armrest of the pilot's seat in the helicopter.

"Who fucking cares? Just get the damned thing." He was hovering above the Northern Crater, waiting to descend into the caverns below once Tseng and Elena had completed their mission.

Rufus's scientists had determined that the cause of geostigma was Jenova cells that had been scattered through the lifestream. The disease was the body overreacting to the invading cells, damaging the host in the process. There was hope that they could find a cure if only they had a large enough sample of cells to work with, and there was one sample of the alien bitch that was believed to still be whole and here at the crater.

Jenova's _fucking_ head.

"Reno! The chopper." Tseng's order finally came.

"You got it, yo." Reno smirked to himself and navigated the helicopter though the mists and billowing snow around the edge of the crater. He spotted his fellow Turks standing on the winding path, a small black box clutched under Elena's arm.

Just as the two Turks on the ground started to approach Reno, shots were fired from the distance.

"What the hell was that?" All three of them reached for their weapons, Tseng firing blindly into the swirling dark. A bullet clipped Elena's shoulder and she staggered to the side.

"Elena!" The wutaian Director shielded the blonde Turk with his own body and continued to fire. Reno started to climb out of the helicopter, when Elena threw the package to him.

"Get-get out!" Her brown eyes were full of determination, not a fucking rookie anymore.

Reno's eyes locked with Tseng's and he gave a quick nod, confirming the order. The redhead reluctantly slammed the door to the chopper shut and took back to the air, looking down at his comrades one last time.

Three freaks dressed in leather jumpsuits were approaching the fallen Turks. They had silver _godsdamned _hair.

A chilling voice came through the headset.

"_You can't hide her from us forever."_

* * *

Reno was sprawled on the couch in the front common room of Healin Lodge. His leg was jiggling almost uncontrollably and his eye had picked up an annoying tick where it twitched without his _fucking _permission.

He'd recently gotten off the phone with Tifa. The martial artist was more congenial over the phone than he thought she'd be, which had his mind wandering off to thoughts of her legendary knockers and what'd it be like to motorboat his face in them, _or _even better what it'd be like if she'd let him stick his...

"Quit it." Rude was in the armchair across the room studying a file on Jenova and Sephiroth.

"Fuck you talking about, yo?"

"Whatever nasty thought you're having right now, quit it." Reno glared at his partner. Damn him, bald bastard knew him too well.

Unfortunately without being allowed to distract himself with thoughts of the planet's most off-limits tits, he was plagued with thoughts of Rufus collapsing in a pile of ooze that morning and having to take care him, or the possibilities of what could be happening to Tseng and Elena.

Were they even fucking alive?

Reno's eye had just started twitching again, and he was debating whether it would make him feel better if he went outside and shot something, when his PHS started buzzing.

"The fuck do you want?" He snapped into the phone without looking at the caller id.

"Where's mother?" Reno jolted up to his feet, his left hand clenching into a fist.

"Where're Tseng and Elena, you little shit?" Rude jumped up as well.

"They're indisposed at the moment...where's mother?"

"We don't have you're fucking mother, but when I find you, _you're_ _dead_." Reno's grip tightened on the phone, his vision turning red.

"Don't tell me you're leading me on, because I think you do have mother there."

This bastard had the audacity to start _laughing._

"You _motherfucker..."_

"No need to shout!"

The laughing increased, and for a moment Reno wasn't exactly sure of the shit spewing out of his mouth. A familiar buzzing returned to his ears, his left hand jerking violently, he needed to fucking _kill_ something.

"I don't want to talk to you anymore, put the president on." The voice on the other end of the phone became serious, and for the first time Reno noticed that durning his freak-out moment Rufus had wheeled his way in, alarmed by the Turks shouting and cursing.

"Here." He shoved the PHS into Rufus's oozing hand. "Psychotic fucker wants to talk to you."

The president cocked an eyebrow at him, but raised the phone to his ear, listening to the ranting of the madman. Reno cracked his neck and stepped outside, Rude close behind.

"Calm down, partner." The bald man handed him a cigarette.

Reno smirked, his vision clearing slightly. "Buddy, promise me we'll kill those bastards?"

"Sure." Rude's gaze was fixed on his face, or at least he thought it was. Fucking sunglasses always made it hard to tell.

"...You think Tseng and Elena are still alive?"

"Would it make you feel better if I said yes?" Rude arched one eyebrow at him.

Reno started laughing and maybe the sound wasn't completely sane, but no one had ever accused him of being _fucking _stable.

He punched Rude lightly in the shoulder.

Gods above, he loved his partner.

* * *

"Gods_dammit_! Where the hell do you think that blonde fucker is at?" Reno stormed out of Seventh Heaven. The building was completely empty. No Tifa, no kids, and no _fucking_ _Cloud_.

Rufus had sent the remaining Turks to Edge to try and reason with Strife one last time. Reno figured it was a good idea to get the ex-soldier, or whatever the hell Blondie was, on their side considering the last time Sephiroth decided to throw a party, Cloud was the only one that could stop him.

The Turks started walking down the street in the direction of where Reno had landed the chopper, when Rude stopped and turned back.

"Where the hell are you going, yo?" Reno jogged to catch up with his partner.

Rude pointed ahead to the ruins of Midgar. "Bet you a hundred gil Strife's in the church."

"You're on, Baldy!" Reno surged ahead, confident his partner was wrong.

* * *

"Best two out of three?" Reno and Rude were standing over the prone bodies of Strife and Lockhart.

He _hated _when Rude was right.

The former members of AVALANCHE were out cold in the flower bed in the old church, and the Turks had no choice but to carry them back to Tifa's bar. They went with the usual method of rock, paper, scissors to decide which one of them got to carry the chick.

"Dammit!" Reno let out an annoyed sigh when he lost the next round, Rude smirking triumphantly. "Three out of five?"

"Stuff it, Reno." Rude carried Tifa bridal style, while the redhead struggled to heave the apparent _fat-ass _over his shoulder.

Who would've ever guessed Strife would be so damned heavy?

* * *

"Dilly dally, shilly shally!"

Tifa shouted slamming her hand on the mattress. The lady looked pretty sexy, all angry and whatnot. The Turks had apparently interrupted a lover's spat between Lockhart and Strife. They'd just returned to Seventh Heaven after hours of gathering information, talking to witnesses, and piecing together what had happened to the orphans.

Reno was hoping that by finding the location of the kids for Strife, the blonde would join their efforts.

"Did you find them?" Tifa's shining amber eyes were almost as lovely as her tits, no easy feat.

"No, only a witness, yo. Kadaj's gang took the kids."

"They're at their base now." Rude's rumbling voice sounded beside him. "The forgotten city."

Cloud's gaze was firmly fixed on the floor and Reno wondered when the hell the bastard had become such a fucking _puss._

"Go." Strife's voice was so soft, Reno almost missed it, but when he realized what the idiot had just said, he stared at the fucker incredulously.

Those kids weren't _his _brats.

His brat was where he'd left him, because unlike _some _people he was able to keep track of his things.

"I have to talk to Rufus."

Reno rolled his eyes. It looked like Cloud was a useless pile of angst, and as another quarrel started between the unhappy couple, Reno turned to leave.

Rude blocked his way and the two had an awkward silent argument, Reno giving hand gestures that said _lets fucking blow this joint_ and Rude grabbing him and giving him signals that clearly said _no fucking way_.

"Let's just go kill the freaks ourselves, yo." Their argument had evolved to whispers.

"You think we stand a chance?" Rude dragged him back into the room by his upper arm again. "He just kicked our asses a few hours ago."

"Fucking _fine."_ Reno looked up and realized that Lockhart was done berating the blonde. He glared at Cloud. "You go. The base is _all_ yours."

He gave his partner a look and the two left the bar to head back to the chopper. If Strife wanted the stupid orphans back _he_ could get off his ass and take care of it.

* * *

The next twenty-four hours were a mess. First Reno and Rude flew back to Healin. It seemed that in their absence Valentine, that _angel_, had rescued Tseng and Elena from the torturous hands of Kadaj and his gang of freaks. Rufus ordered them to fly the injured Turks to Junon for advanced medical care.

Reno was elated that his comrades were alive, and flew at dangerous speeds to get them to the hospital in Junon. After dropping them off, the partners had returned to their base, only to find that Kadaj had taken the president. Following the tracking device on Rufus's PHS, they followed the signal back to Edge.

"And what are _we_ up to?" Reno spotted two of the silver-haired nut-bags ahead trying to pull down the Meteor monument in the town square.

"We know, mother is _here."_

"Oh, yeah?" Reno could feel Rude smirking beside him.

"Yeah, this...thing...this monument thing? Shinra made it." Damn these guys were fucking dense.

"Well, aren't you fucking clever." Reno smirked and looked back at his partner.

"Except you're wrong." Rude adjusted his gloves. Finally there was going to be a _fight._

"Wherever she his, we just _don't_ know." Reno's words were dripping with sarcasm.

Yazoo smirked at them, that bastard. "What, the peons aren't trusted?"

That motherfucker.

"You get muscle-head, I'll take the fag." Reno muttered to his partner, Rude giving a nod of assent. The redhead whipped out his EMR and charged forward.

Then the most _inconvenient fucking thing _happened and a monster started falling from the sky. Some _asshole_ had summoned Bahamut. Reno gaped for a moment then performed an about-face, accidentally nailing his partner in the nose with his EMR, good thing it wasn't charged.

The two Turks started running away from the summon, knowing the signs of the beast starting to cast its mega-flare attack. As Reno was retreating, he backed up and grabbed one of the kids that was surrounding the monument, for some reason thinking of Axel, almost giving up when the little shit stuck its fingers up his nose.

"Is it after us, yo?" Rude had caught up to him, a brat under each arm.

"I'm not lookin."

The ensuing blast sent them flying forward. When Reno pried himself from the pavement, all the kids had run off and good thing too, crazies number one and two were approaching.

"Are we having fun yet?"

"The time of my _fucking _life." Reno launched himself through the air, and it was _on._

* * *

It had been a full day, and it wasn't even over yet. In the middle of their battle with the freaks, the president had suddenly decided to go all _noble_ and Reno had looked over horrified to see Rufus had jumped from the building above and was shooting at Kadaj, the box containing Jenova's head just beyond his fingertips.

The two Turks had let out simultaneous exclamations of _"oh, fuck"_. Luckily, Tseng and Elena arrived in the nick of time, shooting out net guns to catch the president, and that was pretty fucking sweet.

Strife went chasing after the silver-haired trio, apparently done feeling like a limp noodle and ready to put up a fight. At a nod from their boss, Reno and Rude had gone back to the chopper and were now waiting in the middle of the highway, ready to give the golden-boy a hand.

"So, partner. This thing...got any _bite _to it?"

"Shinra technology at its finest."

"Oh, so you made this?"

"If nothing else, it's...flashy."

"Oh, _good."_

"You'll love it. I know."

"Looks like today we're clocking out early, yo."

Reno considered the drop off the side of the highway, unsure if they could make the jump. They'd already travelled halfway around the planet, fought some remnants, and crashed a helicopter. They were sporting bruises and road rash, but they were still standing. Reno figured if they died then, at least it would be in an epic explosion, the sort of way he wanted to fucking bite it, but he also figured if they were going to die, they would have done it way before then.

Strife came out of the tunnel and as he sped past gave Reno a look like he was completely crazy, maybe not too far off the mark seeing as how moments later the redhead was laughing, the timer on the bomb almost at zero. The look on the remnant's faces was just too godsdamned priceless.

* * *

The Turks stood solemnly around the president, the healing rain making the stigma disappear before their eyes.

"Looks like the planet...will live to see another day." Rufus flexed his hand feeling his strength coming back.

Reno smirked and looked over at his partner and the other Turks. Rude's head was a little banged up, and it was obvious Tseng and Elena weren't completely over their ordeal at the hands of Kadaj, but they had all survived another apocalypse. The world was looking up, but as Reno watched more of the stigma melt away from the president's skin, he started thinking of something else.

_Axel._

"Uh, sir. I was wondering..." Reno scratched the back of his head not comfortable with this sort of crap.

"Go, Reno." Rufus smirked at him, and Elena squeezed his shoulder.

"Right."

* * *

Reno landed the helicopter in the clearest space he could find, the touchdown a little rough. Rude held a little limp body in his arms, Axel's breathing shallow and labored. Once outside, Rude handed the kid over and Reno started making purposeful strides towards the church. Axel groaned, and Reno picked up the pace. If the kid died right then, Reno would be _pissed._

He stormed into the church and his charge was interrupted for a moment, the sight of AVALANCHE celebrating and the multitude of kids splashing around in the pool that had formed in the center of the church where the flowers used to be, shocking him.

Yuffie was the first to spot him, her eyes doubling in size and she gave a harsh nudge to Highwind.

"What the fuck, girl?" Cid turned, looking in the direction of Yuffie's wild gestures, his jaw dropping at the sight of the Turk standing in the doorway. Soon the rest of AVALANCHE was staring at him, like they'd never fucking seen him before.

Reno bristled slightly, then with new determination started stalking toward the healing pool.

Was it so hard to believe he was _godsdamned _human?

He stopped at the water's edge and started debating whether he should drop the kid in or jump in with him.

"Hey." Reno was distracted from his thoughts by Strife's voice. Blondie was holding up his arms and nodded at Axel.

Reno snorted and voiced his thoughts. "Well, this is fucking bizarre, yo."

"Yeah." Cloud shrugged, and Reno handed the brat over. He watched as Strife carefully lowered the kid into the water, removing his bandages in the process.

The stigma melted away and Axel's eyes opened. It took approximately less than a nanosecond for the little bastard to realize where he was and start showing signs that he was going to have one of his illogical _fucking _water episodes.

"Don't even fuckin' think about it kid." Reno hissed at him, mortified at the thought of the kid embarrassing him in front of these assholes.

Axel stilled in Strife's arms and by the grace of the gods didn't flip his lid. Cloud raised an eyebrow at them, but handed the kid over.

Reno set him down on his feet and examined the kid. The disease appeared to be cured.

Thank fuck.

"I didn't know you had a son." Tifa had materialized at his side and was gracing him with a soft smile.

"He's not my fuckin' kid, yo." Reno started fishing around in his pocket for his pack of cigarettes, before remembering they'd been lost earlier in the crash.

"I'm his brother!" Axel piped up, and before Reno could tell him to shut up, the kid kept talking. "You're pretty."

"Aw." Tifa squatted down and brushed some hair out of Axel face, and a realization dawned on Reno. He may have just found the motherfucking _key _to Lockhart's pants. "He's cute."

"Ah, I guess, yo." The Turk reached down and grabbed Axel's hand, upping the apparent cute factor and hopefully scoring some points for himself. The kid looking _thrilled_. "I've gotta motor. See ya around, beautiful."

The two redheads left the church, hand in hand. Reno was glad the brat was alive, he could come in handy.

"Reno, can I go with you this time?" Axel's hopeful face was shining up at him and Reno noticed for the first time that the kid had gotten taller _again_. He considered his not-so-little monster, much like he had considered him on the first day they met. Those green eyes still had that hard glint to them, and despite the smile his jaw still had a determined set to it that Reno admired.

"Sure, yo. I don't fuckin' see why not." Axel beamed and Reno crouched down in front of him. "You know what to do?"

"Stay outta your hair and wipe my own ass."

"And?"

"Oh...and school too."

Reno grinned as he shook the kid's hand. Everyone important had survived, Shinra was rebuilding itself, soon he'd be back to his routine, and the kid was coming home with him.

Life was _definitely _looking up.


	6. Epilogue

It had been seven years since the outbreak of Geostigma had been cured. The world was healing, and slowly but surely Shinra had come back into power. Rufus bought out alternative energy sources and people put faith back into the company. Reno and the Turks were back to the usual bullshit, and the usual bullshit had never felt so good.

The redhead reveled in the familiarity of it all and life moved on. The kid grew up before his very eyes, and damn did he get _tall_.

The kid was smart too, and it made Reno's job that much easier, because there wasn't really much to do. As the years ticked by, the Turk had the sneaking suspicion that Axel was trying to take _care _of him, which was fucking_ hilarious_, because there wasn't anything to fix.

The little shit had turned into a snarky teenager and they'd had a few fights, a few tousles, and a few awkward moments, but mostly, things were good. Reno missed the blissful days when the kid had been quiet, but also enjoyed the fact that Axel was able to carry him to bed after he'd passed out on the floor following a night of binge drinking.

The kid was tough too. Reno would never forget the day Axel finally landed a hit on Rude during one of their sparring sessions, green eyes full of triumphant disbelief, right before Rude knocked him out. He was decent at poker too, and he was good at math. The bastard cussed too much, but _oh_ _fucking well._

That day had been Axel's graduation from high school, the redhead had been the valedictorian, smart-ass fucking kid, and Reno and Rude had stood at the back of the room, Tseng and Elena seated nearby. The four Turks had felt a little awkward among the masses of..._normal_ people, but proud nonetheless.

Afterwards, they took him out to celebrate the only way Turks knew how.

They took the kid to the bar.

Reno figured that he was glad that he'd survived all the shit that had gone down in the past. He was pushing thirty and maybe he had a lot of sins, maybe there was no hope for him. He was a _heartless bastard_ after all.

But, as he held back Axel's hair while the kid puked into the gutter, fucking brat couldn't hold his liquor worth a damn, Reno figured...he'd done all right.

* * *

_And that is the end! _

_I hope you enjoyed the story and please review, let me know what you think of it. Constructive feedback is always appreciated. Also, I wasn't really sure about the genre for this one? If you have a better category for this than "general" let me know. _

_Thanks for reading!_


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